Door holding device



Sept. 24, 1957 E. J. STACHURA DOOR HOLDING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMay 25, 1951 P 1957 E. J. STACHURA 2,807,490

DOOR HOLDING DEVICE Filed May 25, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet. 2

i I mum Wl/l/l/[IIIIIIIII/I/I/IIIIIIIII' Sept. 24, 1957 E. J. STACHURADOOR HOLDING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 25, 1951 I him lnllllnmhM M U I J Z I VENTORA United States Patent 2,807,490 DOOR HOLDING DEVICEEdward J; Stachura, Arlington, Va.

Application May 25,1951, Serial No. 228,277

2 Claims. (Cl. 292--288) This invention relates to: door holding devicesand par ticularly to door holders which are easily and quicklyattachedfor maintaining'a door in anyd'esired-open position.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a readily attachabledevice for temporarily holding doors in any desired open position;

A further object of the invention is to-provide a novel door holdingdevice which is simple in construction,

it can be constructed to fit doors having a wide range of thicknesses;it can be constructed so that it may be stored along the stile edge ofthe door without interfering. with the normal action of the door; itwill hold the door against movement in either direction; and it can beconstructed without regard for the spacing between the bottom edge orrail of the door and the floor over which the door normally swings.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will, of course,become apparent and at once suggest themselves to those skilled in theart to which this invention is directed. The invention resides primarilyin the novel combination of a resilient clip means and a floorengagingleg member, as hereinafter described and more particularly defined bythe appended claims.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention use is made of a modifiedversion of a binder clip described fully in U. Si Patent 1,139,627 ofMay 18, 1915, and U. S. Patent 1,865,453'of July 5, 1932, issued to L.E; Baltzley.

The foregoing and other objects and features of this invention may bemore readily understood by reference to the following description of afew specific embodiments of the invention when readwith reference to theattached drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevational side view of adoor holder in accordance with this invention and wherein thefloorengaging leg member is formed integral with the clamping member ofthe device.

Figure 2 shows the blank sheet of resilient material from which thedevice of Figure 1 is made.

Figure 3 is an elevational side view of an embodiment of the presentinvention wherein the leg member containing the floor-engaging means islocated along the free edge of the door to be held.

Figure 4 is an elevational side view of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the device shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 shows an embodiment of the invention wherein the leg membersare made'of a resilient wire-like material.

Figure 7 shows an end-view of the device illustrated by Figure'6.

Figure 8 shows an elevational view of amodified form of the device shownin Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a plan view of the modified form of clip used in connectionwith an embodiment of the present invention;

Figures 10, l1 and 12 show viewsof a device in accordance with theinvention and wherein the door holder is constructed of a continuouspiece of resilient wirelike material.

Referring now to Figure 1 the door holder illustrated consists of aclamping or. attaching portion 2 and leg portions 4; The clampingportion 2comprises' a resilient u-shaped member having an end plate,wall, or bight, and spaced opposed side walls orv jaws. The constructionof the clamping portion 2 is shown more clearly by Figure 9 in which thebight portion is represented by reference numeral 15, and the side wallsor jaws are represented by reference numerals 21 and 22. The'jaw members21 and 22, which are shown directed toward each other with a normalspacing between the jaws an amount less than the thickness of the doorstile with which the holder is to be used, are resiliently movable bymeans of spring handles 3. The free edge of the door is alsoknown in theart as the stile, lock stile, or swinging stile. In Figures 1 and 9thejaws may be moved away from: each other by means of a spring-wire handle3. The handle 3 has outwardly bent ends which are engaged in rolled-oversockets 24 formed at the end of the clip jaws. In operation the handle 3pivots about a point forming the junction of the jaws and the backpiece. While spring handle 3 is shown in the preferred embodiments ofthe invention it is not requisite for the operation of the door holder.Any convenient form of handle maybe afiixed to the sides of the jaws andused for the purpose of. moving the jaws away from each other.

To applythe door holder of Figure 1 to a door it is merely necessary tospread the jaws by means of handle 3 and place the clip portion aboutthe edge or stile of the door 1 pressing downwardly so that the legsengage clip portion to provide a very secure holding means for the door.The end of each'leg is ordinarily provided with a foot member 5comprising. a compressible material to provide a biting action on thefloor and therebyresist movementin either direction. clamping portionwill normally be coated with some form of padding or flock to preventinjury to the door and also to provide a firmer holding action.

Figure 2 shows a metal stamping from which the door holder of Figure 1can be made. In the manufacture of the device in accordance with Figure1 it will usually be first stamped out of a sheet of metal into a formdepicted by Figure 2, then bent along the dotted lines into the desiredshape, and then tempered so as to provide the proper degree ofresilience for the purpose herein set forth. The process involved issimple, economical, and can be readily adapted for quantity production.

Figure 3 like Figure 1 illustrates a door holder which is made from asingle sheet of spring metal and differs from Figure 1 in that theembodiment illustrated utilizes only one leg member 7. At the lower endof leg 7 which, when in position, is along the free edge of the Theinside surfaces of the door 1, is a spring tongue member 8 adapted toengage the floor 10 in the space ordinarily available between the bottomof the door and the floor. In this embodiment, while the minimum spacein which the holder will function is fixed, the maximum spacing may varywidely without impairing the function of the device.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5 the device illustrated is a stillfurther embodiment of the present invention, and which avoids the use oflegs of the type shown in Figures 1 and 2. In this modification it ismerely necessary to have a short projection or extension at the lowerend of the clamping-member jaws as indicated in Figure 5 by referencenumeral 14. Afl'lxed to the elements 14 are compressible foot members 13which function as floor engaging elements for the device. In themodification represented by Figure 4 the foot members are shown locatednear the jaw-ends of the clip member 11.

To apply the device of Figures 4 and 5 to a door the clip jaws arespread by squeezing the handles 3 as indicated by the arrows in Figure 9for this type of clip, and positioning the device along the bottom freecorner of door 1 as shown in Figure 4. Only a slight downward pressuremay be required on the clip to provide etfective holding action.

Figures 6 and 7 show views of an embodiment of the invention wherein theleg members comprise wire-like resilient material. The leg portions 16include a coil portion 17 for urging the foot member 5 against the floor10 when the device isin the installed position. Leg member 16 may beattached to the clip portion 15 either by soldering, by welding, or byany of the several methods well-known to those skilled in the art.

Figure 8 shows a variation of the device of Figures 6 and 7. In apreferred construction in accordance with this embodiment there are twolegs 18, one on each side of the door 1. The bottom portion of the legs18 is swept back to permit a flexing of the leg under moderate pressureduring the installation thereby increasing the effectiveness of theholding action. a

As hereinbefore explained, Figure 9 shows a plan view of a modified formof the Baltzley clip as used in connection with the present invention.The bight portion or end-plate 23 has a minimum inside width at leastequal to the width of the door with which the device is to be used.While the door holder may be made for use with doors of varyingthicknesses, for example: inside and outside house doors, the bightmember 23 should be made so that it is at least as wide as the thickestdoor with which the device is to be used.

Figures 10, 11 and 12 show a further embodiment of the door holder inaccordance with the present invention. In this modification the clipshown in Figure 9 is not used. It will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that numerous forms of the resilient type of clip may be used inthe place of those described hereinbefore. The modification illustratedby the views 10, 11 and 12 comprises one of these forms and utilizes asingle piece of resilient wirelike material which is formed to provide agripping or holding portion 26 and a leg portion 28. Coils 25 formed inthe leg portions are introduced for the purpose previously explained inconnection with Figure 7. The loops 27 perform a two-fold purpose inthat they provide a turn in the wire and also increase the resilience inthe leg portions of the device.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in great detailin the drawings and in the foregoing description, the same is to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several embodiments described herein as well as others which willreadily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art to which theinvention is directed, all are considered to be within the broad scopeof the invention.

' It is therefore contemplated, to cover all such variations andmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention,as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A door holder formed of a unitary sheet of metal comprising an upperportionadapted to resiliently embrace a door along its free edge, saidupper portion having a pair of opposed jaw members open at one end andconnected at the other end by a bight portion, the normal separation ofthe jaws at said one end being less than the thickness of the door; alower portion comprising downward extensions from said jaw members, saidlastnamed portion including floor engaging foot members at the end ofsaid extensions; and spring handle lever means connected to said jawmembers for resiliently increasing the separation of said jaws.

2. A door holder formed of a unitary sheet of resilient materialcomprising an upper portion adapted to resiliently embrace a door alongits free edge, said upper portion having a pair of opposed jaw membersopen at one end and connected at the other end by a bight portion, thenormal separation of the jaws at said one end being less than thethickness of the door; a lower portion comprising a downward extensionfrom said upper portion, said lastnamed portion including floor engagingfoot members at the end of said extension; and spring handle lever meansconnected to said jaw members for resiliently increasing the separationof said jaws.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS165,607 Naughten July 13, 1875 397,380 Mitchell Feb. 5, 1889 1,054,386Barton Feb. 25, 1913 1,214,799 Lewis Feb. 6, 1917 1,249,086 Hipes Dec.4, 1917 1,300,912 Yarberry ,Apr. 15, 1919 1,308,673 Henry July 1, 19191,865,453 Baltzley July 5, 1932 1,935,252 Spratt et al Nov. 14, 19332,172,610. Frank Sept. 12, 1939 2,568,477 Westlund Sept. 18, 1951

